Improvement in machines for cutting ice



,. UNITED STATES lPATENT OFFICE.

NATHANIEL vJ. LIvi/ YETHyde cAMBniDeE, Maestronnsn'r'rs.,.f.A

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR cuzTTiNcniog. n

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1,877, dated December L' 1840.

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, N.\'ru.\NiEr. J. WYETH, of lCambridge, in thc county ot' Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and usefulV Improvement-s in 1ceCutters for tlutti'ng .lee of any yPhiokuess or to any itequired Depth, ot' whichthe following is a specification.

These improvements, the principles thereof, the application ot'said principles, by which the same may be distinguished from other inventions, together with such parts or improvements as Ielaim to be my invention,

l have herein set forth in the following deseriptiou and accompanying drawings, herein rel'crred to, which, taken in connection, form my specification.

It should be premised that the grooves or cuts in the surface of the icc are partially formed before my invention is intended to` be applied to mature the work, o r cut nearly through the ice, or to any desired depth, and that the machines for this'pnrpose which have been in use\heretoforc have some radical defrets or oliiject-ions. In the first place, the chips of ice, not being continuous, like those ot" wood `or matters ot' like character, are liable to and do escape from between the teeth or chisels ot' the cutter and fall into the spaces between the sides ot' the cutter and those ot the grooves, instead of passing up and being deposited upon the surface of the ice. These chips adhere and become congealed or otherwise iirmly fixed to the sides of the grooves, thereby narrowingr that part of the same pre viously cut and opposing no ineonsiderable obstacle to the operation of the cutter, frequently checking the same altogether, particularly when it is wielded or worked-by manual labor exclusively. The second objection is that iu machinery of this kind intended to entice to a considerable depth, it" the angles of the chisels or cutting-points of the teeth were sutlicicntly acute to cut well and were coutinned to the back bar, (so callcd,) to which they are attached, the connection would be exceedingly weak or frail, and the resistance to the operation of the cut-ter would act on the teeth (the front edges ot' which serve as levers) and tend to separate or break them from thc haekbar, thus requiring the teeth to be made of considerable width, at the same unwieldy.

remedied by my improvements, which are Y time renderiugthe 4machine proportionally These objections are effectually represented in Figures l and 2 of the accompanying plate ot drawings, Fig. l beinga side elevation of the same, Fig. 2 being a vertical transverse section, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal section. l .v

A A, Figs. land v2,-is the back bar, towhich the teeth of the cutter are secured. To the rearend of this back bar twoihandles, B B, are properly aftixed,'similar to those o fa common plow, by which the machinery isguided or wielded. To the front end ofthe back bar a common shackle, C, is attached, to which any suitable kind of animal-power ma'y be connected. The separate teeth or chisels D D D D, Sac., are passed through mortises in the bar A A and are tirmly riveted thereto, as shown at E E E, Fig. 1.

The fronts of the chisels are curved, as seen in Fig. l, from the angle of their edges at e to' 'the vpoint where they meet the under side ot the back bar, and the rear of each is so shaped with a curve that the space between it and the front of the succeeding chisel in the rear shall be somewhat wider at the top than at the bottom of each. The lines of these curves at the top are nearly at right angles to the line of the back bar, A A, and the curvature at the bottom is sufficient to give the requisite acuteness to the angle ot' the chisel. The front of each of these chisels D D D, die., instead of being a plane surface, is formed either with a circular or angular groove, as shown at d din v Figs. 2 and 3, the groove commencing at a point about one-half of an inch from the angle or sharp part e of the chisel.

The front cf, Fig. 1, or curved edge of the chisel, is somewhat wider than the remainder in rear of the saine, as shown in the drawings, Fig. 3 at d in section, which arrangement renders it practicable to have a sharp or acute edge, g, Figs. 'l and 3, at each side of the cutting-face or groove of the chisels, thus leaving a space between each side of the groove cut in the ice and the adjacent side of that part of the chisel in rear of the front. This prevents the sides of the chisels freezing to the'ice, while the lateral cutting-edges of the front serve to diseugage anything which may adhere to the sides of the grooves in the 1ce and keep chips or other extraneous matters from falling into the spaces between the sides of the chisels and those of the-groove. The part a, projecting from the top of the back of each of the ehisels, is beveled or chamfered-down, as is likewise a'portion, b, of I@he top of the front of the chisels. The

frontvside of the back bar',A A', isalso.bev y eled at the spaces* c c c, Src., immediately over the openings between the chisels.

From the peculiar formation of the chisels above described it will be `perceived that the chips of ice which are eut irom'the bottom of the groove by the sharp or lower edges, e e, of the chisels are pressed or will pass in a continuons bodyV up thel circular or 4angular groovesA in the fronts of the chisels and willbe discharged at the mouths formedby the beveled surfaces a b c, above mentioned, and deposited on the surfuceof the ice.

By the above construction of an ice cutter a grooveV in ice may be cut to any desired depth with great ease and dispatch, the chips curved cutting-faces of the chisels and constructing the same wider than the rear, or

with lateral cutting'edges g g, for the purpose i of effectually removing, chips of ice or other extraneous matters from the .sides of the grooves, the whole beiug'constructed and operatngsubstantiallyashereinabovedescribed.

Intcstimony that the above is a true description ot' my said invention and improvements, I have hereto set my signature, this20thday of October. in the year 1840.

N ATHL. J. WYETH. Witnesses:

R.. H. EDDY. EZRA LINCOLN, Jr. 

